Problem: Vanessa buys a basket of apples on sale for $\$11$ before tax. The sales tax is $17\%$. What is the total price Vanessa pays for the basket of apples? (Round to the nearest hundredth or cent.)
Solution: In order to find the total price, first find the amount of sales tax paid by multiplying the sales tax by the original price of the basket of apples. ${17\%} \times {$11} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $17\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{17}{100}$ which is also equal to $17 \div 100$ $17 \div 100 = 0.17$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. ${0.17} \times {$11} = {$1.87}$ Add the sales tax you just found to the original price to find the final price Vanessa paid. ${$1.87} + {$11.00} = $12.87$ Vanessa needs to pay $$12.87.$